I Slipped and Fell on Ice in a Shopping Center Parking Lot. Can I Sue?

I Slipped and Fell on Ice in a Stores Parking Lot. Can I Sue?

Understanding what to do if you have a slip and fall on the ice or icy condition in a New York parking lot can be difficult and confusing.  Working through the pain is hard enough; working through the legal tangle only adds to the stress.  At the Law Offices of Stuart M. Kerner, PC, we are here to help you find answers and compensation with it all. Suppose you have experienced a slip & fall injury in a shopping center parking lot. In that case, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Your priority must be taking care of yourself and determining if you require medical assistance. If you can, take photos of the icy condition close up and a little further away so you can see where in the parking lot it is located. Note the date, time, and location in the parking lot that your attorney will need. If you are hurt, call 911 for police and an ambulance to come to the scene where you fell. After you seek medical care, call your slip-and-fall law attorneys at Kerner Law Group, P.C.

The responsibility for appropriate safety and upkeep for New York properties falls to the owners and maintenance staff for each commercial and private property.  It is their responsibility to uphold a reasonable duty of care to ensure that regardless of the weather conditions, their facilities are safe and navigable for the public.  If there is snow or ice on the ground, they must clear and mitigate the effects upon pedestrians and motorists alike within a reasonable time after the snow event occurs. If they fail to do so, they may be found to be negligent in their duty of care.

“Duty of Care” is an implicit contract between owners and their agents to their clientele, patrons, and the public.  This standard creates an expectation for the public” with the watchfulness, attention, caution, and prudence that a reasonable person would use.”  Failure to uphold these standards may be considered negligent, and any damages resulting may be claimed in a lawsuit for negligence.  While there is no reasonable expectation for property owners to clear or remove every trace of ice and snow, it is appropriate to expect them to plan, prepare, and implement a reasonable standard of maintenance and mitigation when they occur.  Despite best efforts, though, accidents still happen… and when they do, liability becomes an issue.

Getting to the root cause of your slip and fall is paramount to establishing premises liability.  Perhaps a previously unnoticed and unreported water leak or dripping, melted water from upper floors or overhangs has created a now-frozen ice slick.  Conditions such as these can develop both unexpectedly and repeatedly, creating hazardous conditions which require immediate attention.

If, however, snow or ice accumulates and a property owner doesn’t clear it away or treat the ice in their parking lot with salt or other melting property, they very well may be held liable for injuries that you or others may experience a result of their neglect.

It is essential to understand that simply because snow is falling and the parking lot or sidewalk is slippery does not mean you can recover for negligence. There is a law called the “storm in progress” doctrine, which states that property owners may not be liable for unsafe conditions that occur from snow accumulation while a storm is still in progress.  As such, conditions that arise and may be considered unsafe or slippery due to a storm in progress may not be the property owner’s responsibility.  There is a reasonable expectation of diligent duty of care to tend to the results from the storm promptly, though, once the inclement weather has passed.

If you have been injured by a slip and fall in a shopping center parking lot, you may have cause for compensation for your pain, suffering, and loss of income or enjoyment.  At the Law Offices of Stuart M. Kerner, PC, we can help assess your claim, sort out the confusion, and recover all you deserve.  We can arrange to come to you, should you need us to, at your convenience.  Call us today for a free, no-obligation consultation appointment.

About The Law Offices of Stuart M. Kerner

If you’ve been injured and want the best possible outcome, the Kerner Law Group, P.C. in The Bronx can help you. Our firm has obtained favorable results for injury victims and their families throughout New York in personal injury cases such as auto accidents, oilfield accidents, traumatic brain injuries, and serious personal injuries.

Our law firm offers a free consultation to discuss your accident and review the legal remedies available to you. We’re available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have about your case. Above all, you shouldn’t feel alone and isolated after an accident. If you’ve been hurt in an accident, we’ll come to you. Our attorney can travel to your home or hospital at your request.